Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1887-11-19
A GOOD SHORTHAND WRITER.


Nerve-What the Trouble Is.
In the first place, to be good short
hand writer land second rate one is not
worth tho room he takes) requires the fir
NEST, soundest nerve. No business that
can be nnmed takes so much out of one
as shorthand reporting. Hearing, eye
sight, hand and brain are called upon for
their highest work and the most intense
attention. sandy haired boys of sanguine
temperament or pale Tipped dark ones
should choose outdoor work and let re-
porting in every case alone, except for
amusement. Hundreds Of such young
men are carried to their graves every
year from the offices and newspapers Of
the city who might be hale, long lived
men If they had not mistaken their voca-
ton. Lean, wiry men, and women are
best for desk work, and stand the drain
of indoor life with least loss. The young
men and women who have secret desire
for easy positions should let shorthand
alone. 3thA
The shorthand writer, like the typical
newspaper man, wants to have the widest
intelligence possible-to know something
about everything, at least enough to know
what is talked about. For not only mer-
chants and lawyers, but physicians, edi-
tors and literary men, to say nothing of
politicians, are coming to find the services
of shorthand writer of great use in their
professions. And to be of use, he must
be man who takes things at word, who
knows geographical name or character
in history or fiction when he hears it,
without stopping to ask what that word
was and bothering to have it spelled-a
process which goes far to drive the prin-
cipal debating out Of his senses.
The secretary needs such keen and close
attention as to catch the direction and the
exact words without having to utter that
irritating "What?' every ten minutes or
oftener, breaking the thread of thought
and wasting time when his express bust
ness is to make the most Of it for an over
weighted principal whose moments are
precious. Then, as corresponding clerk
or secretary, he must have the forms of
good business address at command, SO that
he can put curt directions into courteous
and well turned phrase. An order worth
thousands may be lost the house by too
stiff tone, the offensive independence of
phrase, or one which has something
over polite and solicitous about it.
II want man." said Boston mer-
chant asking for stenographer. "who
can take my idea in three words and put
it into shape in a letter, neatly written,
spaced and directed. If can get such
man he's sure of good place as long as
I'm going" But the clever head Of q
reference office he applied to could only
shake his head and say. ''If we had
twenty such men they would all find
places tomorrow and as many the day
after"
A keen business man Of wide expert
ence in many kinds of work says: 1.-The
trouble with three-fourths of the young
men and girls who learn shorthand and
typewriting is they don't know anything.
They expect to get along by knowing
their one branch and nothing else. and it
is no use. You get clever girl ut
typewriter-one who can rattle off eighty
words of the Declaration of Independence
O minute, or Longfellow's Psalm Of Life
or anything she knows by heart and
sit her down to write business letter
from dictation, and she has to stop and
IcL up StSkI ILL GO AAco W
see if she has spelled word right.
1t puts one out, and makes the mail
late. Or she lets it go with a blunder
that would disgrace an infant scholar.
and there isn't time to write it over.
Sometimes the whole batch Of morning
has to be done over. II happen to say
Buenos Ayres she is dumbfounded, don't
know what heather I'm naming. and I
must write it out before she knows what
is meant, and Chattahoochee would floor
her forever.
"That's my business. Now, il I'm
debating on time for my paper-not a
minute to spare, and it isn't the least
matter how it looks, and the proof reader
minds the spelling, ten to one she'll have
her eraser out every other line to correct
some fancied blemish, and you can't get
it into her head or her either, that all
you want is to drive ahead and get that
manuscript jerked up to the printers in
fifteen seconds. That's what call want
of intelligence. And out of 200 young
men and women we tried to fit for type
writer secretaries, there were not five I
should call good ones, who could be
trusted to write letter without some
shabby blunder in spelling or phrase. -
New York Star.